The Best Video of the Aurora Borealis

These shots from outer space really show what a magnificent planet the Earth really is. Look at all those city lights and then see the etheric glow of the aurora. The electricity we have shackled to illuminate our homes and places of work is nothing compared to the electromagnetic energies that encircle us. 

Time Lapse View from Space
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Earth Verse...

Wide enough to keep you looking,
Open enough to keep you moving,
Dry enough to keep you honest,
Prickly enough to make you tough,
Green enough to go on living,
Old enough to give you dreams

From Gary Snyder, "Earth Verse" courtesy of Stephen Hatch at Nature Photo Quotes

Lightside Quotes

"Alpenglow is the most impressive of all the terrestrial manifestations of God and suggests the spiritual Love-light in which the flesh-walls of earthy tabernacles are dissolved and everything puts on immortality."

John Muir

Robert Anton Wilson Explains Just About Everything

Everything you always wanted to know but were too afraid to ask. And in less than 10 minutes. Really! What is the world coming to....

Robert Anton Wilson On The Acceleration To 2012
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Gobustan, World Heritage Rock Art and Mud Volcanos

Azerbaijan in the southern Caucasus and the Caspian Sea are home to nearly four hundred mud volcanoes - more than half the total throughout the world.

They erupt occasionally with spectacular results, but are generally not considered to be dangerous. An impressive volcanic eruption occured in 2001 in Azerbaijan, but there were no casualties or evacuation warnings.

Mud volcanoes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but those most common in Azerbaijan have several small cones, or vents, up to about four metres in height (13 feet), sometimes topping a hill of several hundred metres. These small cones emit cold mud, water and gas almost continually - an amazing and even beautiful sight, which has become part of the tourist itinerary for foreigners visiting Azerbaijan.

Every twenty years or so, a mud volcano may explode with great force, shooting flames hundreds of metres into the sky, and depositing tonnes of mud on the surrounding area.

This was the kind of eruption that witnesses described seeing on a hillside 15 kilometres (nine miles) outside the Azerbaijani capital Baku in Oct 2001. "There was a big explosion, and a huge flame started coming from the hillside," said one witness. "It looked as though an animal was trying to get out of the ground. 

"The flame was unbelievably big, about three hundred metres high. It was surrounded by dense, black smoke, and lots of mud was being thrown into the air. "The biggest flames burned for about five minutes. Then there was another huge explosion, and then they calmed down to about 10 or 20 metres (32 or 65 feet) high." The flames could easily be seen from 15 kilometres away on the day of the explosion, and were still burning, although at a lower level, three days later. 

Mud volcanoes are one of the visible signs of the presence of oil and gas reserves under the land and sea in the Caspian region. Gas seeps are a related phenomenon. These occur when a pocket of gas under the ground finds a passage to the surface. One gas seep burns continually on a hillside near Baku, ignored by the sheep but sometimes visited by curious tourists. It is an unearthly sight, especially at dusk, and it is easy to understand how these fires that never appear to burn out became objects of worship. 

The appearance of the Zoroastrian religion in Azerbaijan almost 2,000 years ago is closely connected with these geological phenomena, and, according to one theory, the name "Azerbaijan" itself was derived from the word for "fire" in Persian. 

Gobustan is very rich in archaeological monuments. The reserve has more than 6,000 rock engravings dating back between 5,000 - 40,000 years. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human use by the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that followed the last Ice Age, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The site, which covers an area of 537 ha, is part of the larger protected Gobustan Reservation.

Gobustan pteroglyphs Azerbaijan World Heritage
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Most of the rock engravings depict primitive men, animals, battle-pieces, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances in their hands, camel caravans, pictures of sun and stars.

The petroglyphs and rock engravings are an exceptional testimony to a way of life that has disappeared, graphic representations of activities connected with hunting and fishing at a time when the climate and vegetation of the area were warmer and wetter than today.

Apart from petroglyphs, there is also this musical gemstone known as Gaval Dash. It makes a tambourine-like sound when it is hit in different points. Among the stone books there are a big flat stone formed out of 3 supports. Suffice it to touch the object with a small stone, musical sounds come from it. The Gaval Dash have been formed due the combination of unique climate, oil and gas which can be found in the region of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaycan Gaval Dashy (tambourine stone) - Qaval Daşı
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Banaue rice terraces - Eight Wonder of the World

Over 2000 years ago in the small municipality of Banaue in the Philippine highlands province of Ifugao the i-pugo people began to build terraced fields along the steep hillsides to prevent soil erosion and trap water for rice growing.

The beauty and harmony of this traditional way of life, which has been maintained until today is breathtaking. It is no coincidence that i-pugo means people of the earth, as this harmonic way of life is one of the first where farmers themselves created a sustainable system of agriculture they have maintained for 2 millenia. The terraces are now a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site and unlike most intensively farmed areas are a wonderful sight to behold.

The conditions created for rice growing are ideal and the rice which is grown by this naturally organic system of agriculture has a delicate flavour that is highly valued.

Modern western technology and the industrial revolution has led to scientific approaches to agriculture that have not lasted more than a few decades before the local environment has been depleted and the agricultural system has collapsed. The dust bowl of the American prairies in the 1930's is a prime example. 

Simon Reeve's visits the Rice terraces of Banaue
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